Avalon Hodgepodge
by Snowlia
Summary: A series of drabbles and one shots all about anything Avalon. Send me a couple/word/scenerio/idea/song/whatever else you feel like and I'll try and make a short story of it!
1. Storm

So here's the deal. I don't update a lot, we are all aware of this and my slowness so to keep my writing up I am going to enlist your help. I am going to write a series of short one-shot/drabble fics at your request. All you have to do is review with an idea, couple, scenario, character, song, word, category, and so on and so on. Whatever you want and I'll work it out, perhaps I'll even combine them. These will be short fics and I will update, let's say every Saturday? Just to keep me sharp. My only rules are no incest, no horrible grotesque scenes, no crossovers, and I may come up with some more rules later on. I will do femslash if you have your little heart set on it, but I am AWFUL at it, slash I can do though…

So for my first installment I have been given and word, storm, and a couple, Lorren/Kara. Also, if you see any mistakes or anything that needs revising, let me know, this wasn't looked over by anyone other than me and that is a recipe for disaster…

STORM

Kara cringed as lightning split the sky outside in a jagged line. Shivering she pressed closer to Lorren sitting next to her on the bed. He looked up in surprise.

"Kara? Are you listening, what's wrong?" his eyes were wide in alarm, an open book in his lap.

"Huh?" she tore her eyes away from the horrific tempest brewing outside to his face. She shook her head subtly. She was supposed to be focusing on the book he had gotten for her, to teach her more about life in Aldenmore and the fairy realm. At once she felt guilty, he had gone through a lot to try and teach her more about this realm and had traveled to the fairy palace in his old Forest Prince outfit in the middle of this awful storm to give her this book and continue teaching her and she repaid him by not paying attention.

Ashamed she quickly averted her eyes and was in the midst of assuring him she was fine when a roar of thunder rushed through the window. With an involuntary shriek she closed her eyes and pushed herself even closer to the goblin boy.

"Kara…umm…ow…"

"Sorry!" she released the death grip she had on Lorren's arm and embarrassedly pulled herself a respectable distance away from him. A purple flush was making its way across his face. Suddenly and inexplicably her nightdress which had felt suitable a moment before now seemed far too thin and skimpy for secretly meeting with a handsome boy in her room so late at night. "Sorry," she repeated a bit flustered at her own fears and questioning the universe as to why it had to storm the night Lorren was here.

"You're afraid of storms?" angrily she met his amused stare, a cocky smile dancing across his face.

"I am not!" Kara declared crossing her arms haughtily and defiantly, just as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky and her petrified face.

Lorren bit his lip but couldn't help the laugh that escaped. Hot tears of fury and humiliation burned her eyes. "Fine!" she snapped, rising to her feet "I'm glad I'm just so amusing to you. Thank you for all of your help," she took the book from him and closed it with a sharp snap "but I think I've got it from here."

"Kara!" he gasped as she turned away from him and strode purposefully towards the vanity where all of her toiletries slept peacefully and undisturbed; all signs of amusement had vanished from his face.

Proudly Kara sat the book down and pretended to be doing something else as she waited for him to go. "Kara," he pleaded close to her ear. Ignoring him she flipped idly through the pages of the book. "Princess Kara I am very sorry for upsetting you, I meant no harm I assure you," he brushed a finger across her cheek, wiping away a stray tear. "Please don't cry, especially not because of me."

Giving in she leaned into him as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm not crying," she stated evenly, not all traces of anger completely erased.

"Please forgive me Princess; I was only caught off guard," he whispered earnestly.

"What do you mean?" she titled her head to look up at him. Thunder roared outside and she pressed close to him as he tightened his hold on her protectively.

"You seem so fearless, so head strong, it's surprising that such a little thing like a storm would be enough to upset you," she wrapped her arms around him in turn and hid her face from the blinding light outside.

"Well now you know my dark secret," she smiled.

He smiled in return and pressed his lips to her forehead comfortingly. Kara relaxed in his arms. "You seem to be doing better already. You've stopped shaking," he observed.

"Maybe all I needed was a distraction," she whispered.

A seductive smile wound its way across his green lips. He leaned down and tilted her chin up so their lips were level "In that case, I am at your service milady," and he closed the distance between them.

Alright, so not my best work but I needed something to start this off! Anyways, please send reviews, ideas and crit to the address below. Thank-you in advance for your patronage to a far too lazy and crazy author…


	2. Rose

Inspiration: Rose

Submitted by: Rainpath

Category: Romance/Tragedy

Rated: T

"_He had to return though, he had promised her forever, and he had only given her one night."_

She held the rose as delicately as she dared, pinched between her thumb and forefinger and lifted it to the light of the open window. Crystalline blue sparkles danced across the walls as the flower itself stood at the point of the beauty, its turquoise petals shimmering with magic. Slowly the Queen-to-be lowered the flower back down, so she stared at only the pinpoint itself and not the illusions it cast upon the walls.

With one finger she stroked a petal absently, her mind swimming with the battle between somber thoughts and happy ones. Two weeks ago she had been given this rose by her lover, a symbol of their love and a promise he had yet to fulfill.

"_Emily," his voice broke through the heavy silence in the room. _

_Timidly she looked up through tear stained eyes at him, standing by the window, the only light in the room coming from the full moon behind his back. In the light he stood proudly and certainly, but his face betrayed his fear. "Yes?" far from him she sat on the bed, shoulders slumped and her hair making a veil between them. _

_She looked back down as he approached, lowering himself on one knee before her and placing his hands on her knees. "Please, Emily, don't look so sad. I don't want this to be the image of you I take into battle," he smiled pleadingly at her and she smiled sadly back. _

"_I'm sorry Marlin," _

"_Don't be, just smile for me for real, please Emily," She tried again but unsatisfied he joined her joined her on the bed and took her in his arms. Tears rolled down her face as she pressed herself against him. _

"_I'm scared Marlin, we've been fighting the Dark Sorceress for six years now and in two days, she will have won or we will have. God, Marlin, what if we don't?" Her voice cracked as she asked the dreaded question "What if we don't?" Fear hung thick in the air, so thick it was hard to breathe. In two days time, they might both be dead. _

"_It'll be alright," he assured blindly, she felt hot moisture on the back of her neck, his own tears spilling over. She blinked hard, thinking of her other friends, all of them were probably in somewhat the same state, wrapped in the arms of lovers, crying and saying farewells if there may be need. Tomorrow would decide the fate of a realm and all its peoples. "I'm scared too," Marlin confessed. _

_They stayed like that for a long moment, wrapped in each other so tight it was hard to tell who was who, their tears spilling onto one another silently as they thought morbidly and fearfully upon the day to come. Finally Marlin pulled himself gently away from Emily, just enough to see her face. "Emily, I love you."_

"_I love you too," she answered without a second of hesitation. His chestnut eyes were watery and strained with lines of red, his proud arrogance deflated from his face, she could see all of his terror and yet all of his determination as well. They kissed softly and purposefully. _

"_Emily if anything should happen to me," he paused a moment as the thought of laying dead within the next hours pushed through his speech and into his head, sending a tremor down his body. Emily laid her hand on his cheek and sent a soft wave of magic to him, calming him down. He smiled apologetically before continuing "If anything should happen to me, I want you to know that I love you, that I would do anything for you,"_

_She laughed bitterly, cutting him off "Had you never met me, would you be going into battle tomorrow?" Marlin paused and sighed. _

"_Most likely not, but that doesn't matter, you've done so much good for my life, God knows where I'd be if not for you. I'd probably already be dead either from my own stupidly or from a revolt of angry subjects," he smiled but she did not return it "Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I truly love you and I don't know what I would have done had we not been thrown together on that island six years ago," at this she did laugh._

"_I will never forget that for all my life," she giggled, "I'm so glad we did meet though."_

"_Me too…" he trailed off a moment and then without a word, stood._

"_Marlin?" she asked softly but he turned his back and walked toward the dresser and took off a small brown box, he had brought it in with him when he had come to her room that night. His back still to her he opened the box and lifted something out, then placed the box back on the dresser._

_Turning back to her he had a blue rose in his hand. She had never seen anything like it. It was light aqua to dark turquoise and shimmered in the moonlight. Confused she tilted her head a bit to the side in inquiry. Marlin was back on one knee before her, holding the rose out to her. "Emily, I love you, and I want to be with you, forever." Emily looked up in shock from touching the rose's petals as she realized what he was doing. _

"_Marlin," she gasped as the rose slowly changed hands from his to hers. _

"_Emily, Aquatania could have no greater queen than you, and neither could I," she couldn't help but smile as Marlin tried and failed horribly to appear calm as he asked for her hand in marriage, anxiety and embarrassment were livid on his face and the hand he placed casually on her knee was trembling slightly. "Will you do both me and my kingdom the honor of being our next queen?" fear and excitement fought for a place in her heart. She couldn't be queen, she was the farthest thing from a queen there could be, but she had known all along that the thought came with the territory of being romantically involved with a prince. How could she deny him though? How could she deny herself? Hours from battle she knew that truly she had no choice and that was quite alright._

_She slid off the bed and to the floor, into his arms. "I'm no queen Marlin, I know that, but I will marry you and try," her breath was cut off as his arms wrapped hard around her and his lips were almost vicious on her neck in his excitement. _

"_Marlin!" she rasped, trying to breath and he hurriedly and embarrassedly released her. _

"_Sorry," his eyes were on the floor and his cheeks were bright purple. She laughed and kissed his cheek. _

"_I'm breakable, remember?" she teased and even he had to laugh. _

_With an audible sigh Marlin looked back out the window at the moon. "I should probably leave you now, we have a big day tomorrow and I wouldn't want to keep you up," in a swift motion he kissed her and then rose to his feet. _

"_Wait!" she struggled to her feet with a little less grace and garbed his arm. He turned back to her expectantly. A blush rose hot in her cheeks as she thought quickly over what she was about to do and her stomach twisted in a not completely unpleasant way. _

"_What is it?" he probed gently, a little worried by her sudden anxiety. _

"_Well," she paused to swallow and gather her nerve "If-if we are to be married, then I see no harm in you spending the night here," her face burned but she smiled as seductively as she could to try to entice him to stay. Marlin stared at Emily in shock, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline. _

"_Really?" he asked hesitantly and she laughed. _

"_Yes, really."_

_He moved back to her and kissed her again, lightly and passionately, "I would love to stay," they both eased back onto the bed, his lips moving across her neck and ear "as long as you want me to."_

"_I do," she assured, running her hands through his hair. Her arms laced around his back tightly as he pushed her down, maneuvering himself on top of her and kissed her again. For a second she pushed away breathing heavily "Just remember," she huffed "I'm breakable," and he laughed._

_Emily remembered waking up the next morning tired and sore, and completely naked. Bashfully she had pulled the covers up higher and looked around for Marlin only to realize in horror that he had already left. Beside her was a note, _"Dear Emily, I'm so sorry I left without saying goodbye but I know that that will only lead to more pain and I'd prefer we part on a better note,"_ here there was an ink stain as if he had paused in the writing and the ink had dripped _"I love so much Emily and I know I'm not always the best at expressing it in most cases so I'll say it now. I'm so glad we met and I'm so glad you agreed to be my wife, no matter what you think you'll be a great queen. You're kind and caring and I think you could probably help me be king more than I can help you be queen. Also before I loose my nerve to say it I will admit that last night was the greatest in my life, for multiple reasons."_ At this Emily blushed severely with a smile and pulled the covers tighter around her though there was no one around _"I still can't understand why you are so embarrassed about yourself, Emily, there is no more beautiful girl in Aldenmore. I love you Emily and I shall see you again after this war is over and won."

Two weeks ago she had awoken to that note and still Marlin had not returned. It had taken three days to defeat the Dark Sorceress and the Spider Witch and then a week more for the other battles to be won across Aldenmore and now there was all the cleaning up to do. Many lives had been lost and many more were wounded. Lyra had met her end at the hands of the Dark Sorceress. Emily knew that at this moment Kara was crying into Lorren's shoulder as he held her tight and whispered words of comfort. Also in the fight had perished many others of her friends, including Ariel the owl and Balthazar the winged pony, both of which had lived at Ravenswood with the girls for a while. But Emily would not allow herself to grieve, not until Marlin returned.

She twirled the rose in her fingers, imaging what could be keeping him and refusing with ever inch of her being to believe that he had not returned because there was no breath in his body to bring him back to her. She remembered Lorren returning to them, late as well. He had come back, bloodied, broken, pale, anemic, bruised and battered but he had returned to Kara's arms. He would never look the same after all of his wounds and battering but Kara hadn't cared one bit. Emily knew that she too wouldn't care what Marlin looked like when he returned. If he returned.

He had to return though, he had promised her forever, and he had only given her one night. A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye as she surveyed the rose, lowering her lips to it in a kiss. "I love you Marlin," she assured to him, wherever he was. Suddenly there came a knock at the door. In surprise she dropped the rose which landed gently in her lap. Fearfully she stared at the wooden door, again the knock came. Her heart pounded in her chest hard, the rose responding to her excitement and fear with a small pulse of its own.

"Come in," she breathed. The handle turned. Her jewel pulse, the rose pulsed and ever so faintly, so faintly that not even Emily herself sensed it, a small individual aura pulsed inside of her as well.

Fin

Dun, dun dun, so was it Marlin, returning to her to marry her as he promised? Or is it a servant or warrior coming to hand over Marlin's broken sword with all of his sympathy? You decide…

Also I have a few excuses for the OOC going on here, first of all, I'm a bad writer, haha, well that is partially the reason but other than that I assume since they are 18-19ish here that their personalities, especially Marlin's would have changed a bit and also since it is the eve of a great battle I'd also imagine that they wouldn't be quite themselves with the thought of death or the death of their friends fresh in their minds…


	3. Mistletoe

So, I haven't been updating due to a lack of reviews or general public interest. So anyway please review if you want me to continue, else I will not. Since every story so far and most likely the rest of the chapters will be romance as well, I've decided to change this to a romance fic. I want to try and write a different story for each couple I can come up with in Avalon. Keep giving me ideas, couples and words though and I will incorporate them.

Word: Mistletoe

Submitted by: SunshineGirl177

Tasha ran her fingers through her midnight hair for the hundredth time that night, tugging at any rebelling strands. She stared at her reflection condescendingly in the mirror.

"I can't do this…" she mumbled to herself, poking and prodding at her figure, trying to find any imperfections and coming up with far too many. Baring her teeth she checked to make sure she hadn't gotten any food stuck in them, though all she had eaten for the last hour was white mint leaves.

With a sigh she straightened up, an instant image of Kara leaping to her mind. She pictured the blonde beauty with her perfect figure, not too plump and not too skinny, with her ridiculously flawless hair that never seemed ruffled no matter the situation. Tasha on the other hand was an entirely different story.

She stared sadly at her pudgy little figure. _Well maybe not pudgy_, she reasoned with herself, but she was defiantly no Kara. Her fat seemed to be in all the wrong places. Tasha felt as if she looked more like she was ten years old, not fifteen. She was far too short too, with stocky legs that made her instantly regret the homemade white skirt she'd chosen to wear that evening. And why hadn't she worn heels? Wasn't she short enough without wearing flats? Another sigh and she leaned against the counter behind her, she couldn't wear heels though, she couldn't walk in heels and wearing them tonight would be far too suspicious.

Scrutinizing herself, she leaned in close to the mirror again. "What are you doing?" she jumped and squeaked in surprise, whirling around with bright purple cheeks to face her unannounced company.

"Lorren!" she gasped. The goblin prince sat comfortably on a countertop, hidden in the shadow of a large wooden cabinet. An amused smile slid across his face while he arched an eyebrow questioningly. "Nothing," she assured hurriedly, too hurriedly "what are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out what you're doing," he shot back without missing a beat. Easily, almost lazily he threw his palms down on the table beside him pushed himself out of the sitting position and too his feet in a manor that looked rather feline. He stretched to his full height, making her feel even shorter as always occurred when she was in his presence. Her eyes only came to about his collarbone.

"Show off," she muttered, turning to look back in the mirror for a second before thinking better and turning back to him.

"Besides, you told me to be here, remember?" he widened his eyes at her teasingly.

"I remember, I remember," she assured in mock annoyance, trying to act as if this was just any other night. Apparently, it wasn't working.

"Are you alright?" his smile disappeared as he surveyed her with concern. "You look a little flushed," he cocked his head as he looked directly into her eyes, searching for any signs of something amiss. He took a few steps forward to get a better look, leaving inches between them. Quickly Tasha closed her eyes and looked away; taking a few subtle breaths so he wouldn't see.

"I'm fine," she insisted, shuffling back a few steps. "Took my temperature just an hour ago, 102," she nodded with a fake smile. She was finding her false bravado fading fast under his intense gaze. As much as she chided herself for being so silly, those green eyes never ceased to dazzle her.

"Alright," Lorren gave in uncertainly before moving past her and towards the open doorway, leading to the gardens. "Let's go," he called over his shoulder.

Tasha called back and watched his lanky form retreat. As soon as he was out of sight, she clutched her hand to her heart. With a deep, harsh breath she tried to calm herself. She just had to do it quickly, get it over with and then, what happened, happened. _Or_, another part of her reasoned,_ you could just not do it_. Her mind instantly flashed to an image of Lorren and Kara, her smiling that ridiculously beautiful smile of hers and him grinning stupidly back. No way was she going to let the greatest guy in her life be taken away in an instant by some pretty faced little fairy princess!

"Tasha!" Lorren's silhouette stood out against the doorframe, moonlight pouring in behind him "Are you coming?" he sounded impatient but she couldn't rightfully blame him.

"I'm coming," gathering every ounce of courage she had, and finding it was a sadly small lot, she followed after him into the gardens.

"What's with you tonight?" his arms were crossed as he stared at her confused.

"Nothing," she assured him trying to sound exasperated. "I am fine, now are you going to help me find the plants I need or not?"

"You're so weird," he deduced, pushing lightly past her. A bit more roughly she pushed back and he laughed. "Are you going to fight with me now?" He mocked, turning and walking a few steps before he tripped over a root and stumbled a minute before catching himself. Tasha cupped her hands over mouth to keep from laughing.

"I would but it looks like the tree wants a round first," he scowled and without warning pounced at her. She screamed as he easily scooped her up and flipped her over his shoulder.

"PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW LORREN!" she shrieked, now fully regretting the decision to wear a skirt.

"I thought you said you wanted to go?" he laughed.

"NOW!" she pounded on his back until he placed her gently back on her feet. Fuming she crossed her arms and glared him down as he smirked back.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly, trying to cover the bold smile on his face. With a fierce smack at his arm she strode past, inconspicuously sliding her hand into her skirt's pocket. Feeling a small cool vile she breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking.

"Idiot," she spat but just he laughed and followed quickly, leaves crunching under his feet as he hurried to keep pace.

"I'm sorry Tasha," he laughed again "but you insinuated it. Anyway what am I looking for?"

"Faerie Clover, Wolf Tail and Masenith," she repeated as if reading from a script. "They look like-"

"I know what they look like," he waved her off, already ignoring her and scanning the foliage. "Aha!" with a swift leap that would have left Tasha on her face he cleared a bush that separated paths and disappeared into another section of the garden. Tasha just rolled her eyes with a smile as she bent down to pick a few sprigs of Masenith off the side of the path.

Plucking the bright yellow plant she thought hard now that she was alone again, how long should she wait? Now, she decided, she couldn't hold it off, she needed to do it or she'd loose her nerve. With a deep breath she scanned the garden and saw a tree, perfect for her plan.

"This is it, right?" She turned a bit preoccupied, briefly registering the long, bushy, blue plant in his hand as Wolf Tail.

"Yeah, that's it," she nodded, brushing her hands quickly on the sides of her skirt. "I think I saw some Faerie Clover over this way," she took a step towards her destination but his hand shot out, encasing her wrist and pulling her back.

"No, I saw the Faerie Clover over there," he jerked his head back the way he had come, she peered around him, it was all bushes and flowers, no trees.

"No, it's defiantly this way," she corrected him gently as if he was a small child.

"But-"

"It's this way!" she turned and strutted off, finalizing the statement.

"Alright, alright, we'll go over here, geez…"

She let her eyes wander across the different plants, pretending she was searching for the Faerie Clover, as she edged her way towards the old tree. Dropping down she pretended to be looking around its mangled roots as she subtly slipped a thin vile out of her skirt's pocket and uncorked it. Swiftly she emptied the contents into the ground before slipping the vile back out of sight and standing up again.

"Find anything?"

"Nope," she sighed, feigning disappointment.

"I'm telling you, it's over there," he took a step away but she grabbed his arm.

"No, no, it's here, I know it is!" he eyed her curiously at the slight plea in her tone.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine!" she responded a little too quickly and the suspicious look on his face only grew. Gazing swiftly over his shoulder she saw the slender vine inching its way up the tree, heading for the lowest branch just above their heads. "Umm," desperately she grasped for something to distract him for just another minute. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he jumped, looking off in the direction she had gasped at, hand instinctively at his sword's hilt, ever hanging from his belt. There was of course, nothing there; she only needed to keep him occupied for a few more seconds.

"I'm sorry, I don't know, I saw something in the moonlight, it might have been a bat, out for a flight. It just startled me," she had to credit herself to getting pretty good at this lying thing. For a moment she stared up at the bright full moon, something about it was almost hypnotic to her. Slowly pulling herself away she turned back to Lorren, preparing for what she was about to do when suddenly and out of nowhere, he kissed her softly on the cheek.

She gasped and started in surprise and he laughed. "What…"

"Mistletoe," he indicated the green and white little sprout hanging above their heads.

"Huh?" she asked, her mind still whirling, her plan had been completely overthrown in a second by Lorren's observation.

"It's an Earth tradition, if you're under the mistletoe with someone, you have to kiss them. I don't quite know what it's doing here though…" he trailed off, squinting at the plant in confusion.

"_Ok, no problem," _she thought a bit panicked to herself _"Plan B."_ Actually there was no Plan B but very quickly she haphazardly threw it together, if this didn't work, she was truly in trouble.

"Well no wonder you've been single for the past two years!" she exclaimed in pretend exasperation. Lorren looked at her confused and a little annoyed.

"What?"

"Well if that's what you call a kiss…" she trailed off. Not daring to even consider what she was doing she pressed on, one second of realization of what she was insinuating and all her confidence would be lost, and so would all of her hopes.

Lorren leaned back an inch so as to scrutinize her better with arched eyebrows. "You…_want_ me to kiss you?" Tasha tried her best not to let his tone of incredulity get the best of her but it knocked her confidence down a point or two. Turning away so he wouldn't see her blush she pulled her final card.

"Like you'd have the guts," she scoffed teasingly.

"Oh really?" he laughed.

Tasha had known with almost absolute certainty that her bait would work, Lorren could never resist a challenge, but it still took her breath away when he turned her around and put his mouth to hers. Instantly her mind leapt back a few years; an eight year old Lorren giving her a clumsy kiss after they had seen adults do it a hundred times. She had loved it then and she loved it now. After a few short seconds Lorren pulled away, moving back only a few inches to look at her.

Both of them stared tensely at one another with bright purple highlighting their features, neither knowing quite what to say. Tasha swallowed hard and smiled as best she could "That was…better," she nodded and he laughed nervously back.

"Thanks…" He swallowed hard as well and then with tentative uncertainty he slowly leaned down and with a pounding heart she closed her eyes and they kissed again. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his own tightened around her waist. It was a soft and innocent kiss but still the blood pounded in her ears. His lips parted against hers for a second before a sudden cry from a nocturnal bird frightened them apart.

Embarrassed the two refused to meet each others eye "Tasha?" Lorren's voice risen a few octaves, as she had known him to do when he got nervous.

"It's getting late," Tasha stated, turning away from him "we should go back in." _So much for staying cool_ she thought to herself, but she couldn't help it, she had just kissed her best friend. The realization was a lot to take in, even if she had been planning it for days.

"What about the-the faerie thing?"

"What?" her mind went blank "Oh, the Faerie Clover! Just…forget it; it's fine," she began to lead the way back in, suddenly ashamed at herself. It had been a dumb idea, she shouldn't have done it, she shouldn't have messed with the good thing she had with Lorren! Now she was too embarrassed to even find out how he felt.

Trying her best to seem calm after the whole event she held her head high and her shoulders back but jumped when Lorren's hand gently captured her own. Startled she looked up to his face, a shy smile on his lips as he squeezed her hand and she smiled timidly back.

Maybe it hadn't been such a dumb idea after all.

XXX

So this couple gets NO recognition though I think they're adorable. Anyways, as always reviews are appreciated as well as pointing out any mistakes/typos I made have made in this piece.


	4. Moonflower

Topic: Moonflower

Suggested by: Rainpath

A/N: My apologies on the delay, this was originally a Joey/Adriane but it was AWFUL so I trashed it and went with this instead…my apologies if I didn't get the moonflower correct, I tried looking it up and got a sundry of species, some were deadly, some were used as medicine, some were a few inches across, some were 5 feet. I had to improvise…

Emily Fletcher loved sunsets. They were so beautiful the way the sky subtly changed to such drastic hues. They were the same even here in Aldenmore. If anything she thought the Aldenmore sunsets were even more brilliant than the ones back home. A light breeze lifted her curls away from her face as she rested her chin on her knees hugged close to her chest.

"What are you doing?" She had been so at peace and gone to the world that Zach's voice had startled her badly.

"Oh my gosh Zach, don't do that!" she gasped as he laughed.

"Sorry, I didn't really sneak up on you or anything though," Laughing at herself she pulled her knees back up to her as she stared at the sky once again. "So what are you doing?"

"Watching the sunset," she told him, a little surprised that it wasn't so obvious. She heard his footsteps as he moved to stand behind her and watch the sky as well. "When is Adriane supposed to be back?" she asked after a small bout of silence.

Zach sighed "I'm not sure, she said she'd be back sometime after dark," Emily sighed too. Adriane had rushed off with the Drake after being summoned by the fairimentals to the Fairy Glade though about what Emily wasn't sure. Marlin couldn't get away from the castle for the day and Kara had dropped a few not-so-subtle hints that she would prefer to be alone with Lorren today, leaving Emily with Zach. It wasn't that she minded really, it just wasn't often that she spent so much time with the dragon rider.

Silently she resumed mentally recording the sun's decent. Zach was silent the whole time, only shifting from foot to foot every few seconds. When the final rays or light were retreating below the horizon Emily stood, hearing her bones audibly crack after sitting for too long and stretched out her limbs.

"Can I show you something?" Zach blurted in such a rush that Emily had to ask him to repeat himself.

"Um, alright," she obliged after understanding the question.

"Great!" Without warning Zach bolted off further into the woods.

"Whoa!" With a yelp of surprise she tore after him, finding without much surprise that he was indeed a great deal faster than she was. She was focusing so much on keeping up that she didn't realize he had stopped in time to stop herself and collided roughly with his back. With a grunt he stumbled forward a few steps but was all in all unfazed as Emily wobbled a bit dazed and still huffing. "What was that about?" she gasped, leaning up against the nearest tree for support.

"Sorry," he blushed a deep red and looking embarrassedly at the ground, "I just didn't want you to miss it,"

"Miss what?" She panting she followed Zach's gesture to take in the many green flower buds that grew around the bases of the trees around them. Emily raised an eyebrow, too tired to even ask what was so special about the unblooming flowers.

Zach's smile only grew as he pointed to a bud near Emily's feet. She stared at it for a moment uncertainly and then she felt her eyes go wide as the little plant twitched. To her amazement the bud began to open, revealing bright white petals right before her eyes. It bloomed quickly and certainly, extending out its pale petals to the world. Within a minute's time a full flower sat proudly before her.

Amazed and rather impressed with the little flower that bloomed so quickly she looked back to Zach, only to see the little flower's brothers and sisters all blooming and twitching as well. Zach stood in the midst of it all, a proud smile on his face. "They're called Moonflowers," he explained.

"They're unbelievable," she whispered, turning left and right to watch them all.

"They bloom at night and then close up in the morning."

"Wow, this is amazing Zach!" Finally catching her breath she sunk down beside the first flower and stared at them all, glowing bright white in the murky twilight of the forest.

"I thought you'd like it," his voice was quieter and his proud smile had turned into something a bit shyer.

Emily kept her eyes as wide as she could, still in awe of the beauty of it all. Zach sat down on the other side of the flower. "Adriane didn't get it,"

"Huh?"

"Adriane didn't get it. She didn't get why I like it here," Zach whispered, a bright crimson blush spreading across his face as he looked purposefully out into the night.

"Well it's beautiful, no matter what she says," Emily assured him with a smile. Gently she reached out a hand and stroked the petal of the nearest flower with her finger.

"I knew you'd like it," Zach voice was even quieter than before. Hesitantly he reached out and touched the petal opposite the one she had her finger on. For a moment they sat quite still like that before Zach very tentatively moved across the flower and brushed Emily's fingers breezily with his own.

Emily froze as he traced delicately across her hand, her face burning. She looked hurriedly to his face, but a shock of blonde hair covered his eyes. Suddenly the pressure was gone from her hand as Zach curled his fingers up and pulled away, obviously a bit wounded by her rejection.

Without thinking Emily instantly reached out and quickly intertwined her fingers with his. Zach's eyes met hers in surprise as they both stared at one another, not quite sure what to think or do at the moment. Emily looked away first, unable to continue staring into his bright blue eyes and too embarrassed to let him see the uncontrollable smile that was quickly forming on her lips.

With a fresh blush on her face she gently squeezed his hand as he leaned his shoulder against her own, burning her skin where he touched her.

Emily still wasn't quite sure what had happened or how it had happened, all she knew was she wasn't regretting it. Leaning against him in turn they sat silently, watching the world around them as they waited for one of the others to return.

Eh, I thought it was cute. The ending was a little bleh but I wasn't sure how to wrap up. Again unedited by anyone other than me, so let me know if there is any mistakes. There is a possibility I will change it…Hope you liked it!


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